MENHIR

Leaving behind the Cancho de la Misa and entering the gateway to the castro, on the right we can see a kind of menhir that has been watching our ascent. This menhir for some is a knightly stone. (a stone placed in a natural way, without human intervention), but this is not the case, because if we approach to the base of this stone slab, we will observe how it presents some cups in its vertical wall that in no case can be due to erosion, because the erosion of granite in vertical surfaces does not present that typology; therefore, either the human being has done it, or it was produced in a natural way in a horizontal position to, later, be lifted by man. In any case, the hand of man is behind that stone that clearly delimits the perimeter of the ancient castro.

With a height of more than 3.5 meters, it is part of a structure that involves another stone placed horizontally near its base, which serves as a viewpoint from which to observe the surroundings; it also has a rear wedge to hold it upright. A whole megalithic complex that watches over the pass and watches the ascent of the hikers.

It also has two bowls in a horizontal surface of its southeast face, presumably for libations, keeping all this set a key position in the limit of the ancient wall that formed the settlement of the II Iron Age (most likely this menhir is prior to those settlers, although it would be skillfully used by them).

And although from the Old Causeway this stone visually resembles a rectangle projected towards the sky, if we approach it cresting the southwest flank, it will give us the impression that it is a thin, elongated stone. On the other hand, if we stand next to this mass, we can see that it is actually an L-shaped stone, which is not visible if we do not climb to its base, because from a distance this particular feature goes unnoticed.

And although it is possible to reach the base, caution must be maximized in the attempt, given the steepness of the terrain and the steepness of the rocks, which present a significant slope that forces the hiker to be cautious.

In any case, this megalith is a reference in the Serrano landscape.